The present disclosure relates to handling adhesive signage card exiting a cutter onto a conveyor at high speeds and in separate shingled sets consisting of 4 rows of 24 cards, and more particularly, to an improved method and apparatus for shingling the separate sets of cards onto the conveyor jam free.
In general, marketing signs for in-store shelving can be either an adhesive type or non-adhesive type. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,975,416 B2, a non-adhesive type marketing sign is shown that includes a free portion, a base portion and a connected portion that couples the base portion to the free portion. The base portion includes an engaging piece and a support piece. The engaging piece is coupled to the support piece of a base bend line and configured to engage with a portion of a product display structure having a price holder. Another marketing sign is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,338 constructed of sheet material. The sheet material includes a free portion, a base portion and a connecting portion that couples the base portion to the free portion. The base portion includes an engaging piece and a support piece. The engaging piece is coupled to the support piece at a base bend line and configured to engage with a portion of a product display structure having a price holder. The connecting is defined between a first connecting bend line spaced apart from a second connecting bend line by a first distance. The first connecting bend line is adjacent the support piece of the base portion and the second connecting bend line is adjacent the free portion. The first distance substantially corresponds with a top edge thickness of the price holder.
Currently, the present process used to create adhesive signage for store shelving involves applying a PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) tape to the paper or other substrate and then printing signs on the modified substrate. The media is ˜8 mils thick and the adhesive tape is ˜10 mils thick leading to a total thickness of roughly 18 mils on one side of the media and 8 mils on the other. This creates an uneven distribution of force as the cards are delivered at a high speed to a downstream conveyor/shingling system. This conveyor/shingling system works by taking cut cards (32 up) from 3 sheets or 96 cards every 3.6 seconds. Systems on the market when supplied are fitted with “shingling” rollers located downstream of a slitter that do not work with the adhesive in-store signage. While rollers may work with flat media, the weight differential caused by the tape creates a moment that spins the cards and affects the flight trajectory of each card causing the cards to pile up in front of the rollers and not shingle consistently. When the cards start to pile up at the rollers, the following cards crash into the leading cards and cause large jams due to the speed of the system. The machine must be shut down for the jam to be removed which is a labored task because cards become tightly wedged in under the rollers before the system can be stopped.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for shingling the separate sets of cards at a high speed onto a conveyor without jams occurring.